Artistic Intervention as Scene Construction/Deconstruction: An Analysis of the Display of the Kangxi Throne in the Humboldt Forum in the Context of the Cross-Cultural Exhibition

Abstract

Based on the research perspective of cross-cultural exhibition analysis, this paper takes case study as the fundamental methodology under the framework of museology and art history research in order to analyse the new display of the Kangxi throne and its screen, which were lost overseas from China during the war years and have been transferred from the Museum of Asian Art in Dahlem to the Humboldt Forum, which is deeply involved in the controversy of its colonial history. This study primarily focuses on the situational methods in which the exhibits were connected to the public under artistic intervention. In the exploratory stage, the “Game of Thrones” project in the Humboldt Lab Dahlem programme offered multiple versions of interpretations, which ultimately prompted the museum to change the scene restoration plan and invite the famous Chinese architect Wang Shu to complete the rooftop installation. Between construction and deconstruction, the artwork’s scenic intervention creates structural descriptions for the presentation of cross-cultural differences, and accommodates ethical conflicts from different sides with its poetic, distanced interpretations, while providing a shared language for comprehending the various facets of nationhood amidst the intersection of history and the present.